The T4 case study can be a time pressured exam, and success is dependent on managing your exam time carefully. Make sure you submit a complete report and short communication document that satisfy all nine assessment criteria. The case writer for T4 part B explains more.
In order to address all the issues and criteria of the assessment matrix in the T4 part B exam, you must break down the three hour exam time and 20 minutes’ reading time into slots for specific aspects of your report. It is very important that you allow time to plan your answer and think about all the aspects, implications and alternative actions for the problems or proposals presented to you in the unseen material on exam day.
This exam is not about the quantity of what you write, but the quality. While planning time means that you ‘lose’ some writing time, it should help you to write a more comprehensive, professional report. Your answer should have a logical flow, offer a detailed analysis of the issues and conclude with sound, well justified recommendations.
Exam essentials
So, what to do in the exam room? Firstly, do not panic. Use the 20 minutes’ reading time to read the unseen material. With a pen, underline or jot down your initial ideas and key data on the pink exam booklet.
As you read, start thinking about the calculations required and what alternative actions could be taken for each issue. You can also start to plan what theoretical models are relevant to help you analyse the material.
After the 20 minutes’ reading time, I suggest you spend up to 20 minutes planning your answer. During this time you will decide what models to use and decide on your prioritisation of the issues in this case. You should also prepare a plan for each issue, identifying the impact and alternative actions that could be taken, as well as the relevant theories and calculations required.
This leaves 160 minutes for you to write your answer, including the 90 mark report and the ten mark communication document in part (b) of this exam.
Using time profitably
There is no right or wrong way to allocate this time, but you may find the time plan suggested below useful. Based on 160 minutes (180 minutes minus 20 minutes’ planning time) and 100 marks available, this equates to spending around 16 minutes for each ten marks available (1.6 minutes per mark).
Let’s round this down to 15 marks for each ten marks, which allows a little time if you overrun anywhere. This translates to this time allocation:
- planning and thinking time: 0 marks, 20 minutes
- technical and application: 20 marks, 30 minutes
- diversity: five marks, ten minutes
- prioritisation: five marks, ten minutes
- judgement and focus: 25 marks, 40 minutes
- integration and logic: 25 marks, 40 minutes
- ethics (including advice): ten marks, 15 minutes
- question 1 (b): ten marks, 15 minutes.
Total: 100 marks, 180 minutes.
The three key areas to concentrate on in your report in part (a) are:
- Preparing suitable and accurate calculations – marked in application.
- Analysing each issue in the case with alternative actions to approach each issue – marked in judgement.
- Preparing sensible, commercially realistic recommendations – marked in logic.
I advise you not to spend too much time on your calculations as these carry less than the 15 marks available in application.
The most important thing to remember in the exam room is not to waste valuable time on aspects of your report such as:
- worrying too much about prioritisation – it is the quality of your discussion on each issue which is most important, not the ranking order
- placing too much attention and time on the presentation of your report
- using excessive detail in the earlier parts of your report (especially the calculations) and not leaving enough time to complete fully justified recommendations
- rereading what you have written; instead, try and write the recommendations for each issue immediately after you have analysed and discussed it.
Judge wisely
In order to earn marks in judgement, you should ensure that you discuss each of the issues in depth, explaining their impact, your financial analysis and alternative actions that could be taken.
The plan is 40 minutes for this part of your report, which works out at ten minutes per issue (with four issues). However, the top two priority issues will carry more marks (in judgement and logic) and should be analysed in more depth. A more refined allocation of your time is around 12 minutes for the top two issues and eight minutes each for the other two issues.
Your recommendations are a very important part of your report and you should spend around 40 minutes preparing clear, well justified recommendations of the action you are advising for each issue. Your recommendations should show ‘what, why and how’ as follows:
- what course of action or what decision you are recommending
- why you are recommending this course of action. Justify your decision – if you don’t know or cannot explain clearly why you are recommending it, how can you expect the reader of your report to understand?
- details of the actions that should be taken to make the recommendation happen, who should undertake it, and what timescales should be expected.
Ethical thinking
You should write around two paragraphs for each ethical issue, explaining:
- what the issue is and your justification of why it has an ethical dimension
- your detailed advice on what actions should be taken to address it.
Suggested timing is five to eight minutes for each ethical issue with a total of 15 minutes on this section.
The final problem
The ten mark communication document question 1 (b) will require a separate answer which will cover one or more of the issues that you have already analysed in your report in part (a). You should allow around 15 minutes for this part.
Ensure that your answer addresses the specific requirement of this ten mark question, such as a presentation, an email or a graphical presentation. Include an analysis of the issue raised as well as relevant financial information. Also make sure you provide a clear recommendation of what action should be taken on these issues.
Practice makes perfect
Remember to plan your exam time and to stick to your plan. It is harder to pass T4 if you do not attempt whole sections (such as ethics or part (b)) because you ran out of time.
Practise using past T4 cases or mock exams from tuition providers, so that you know you can write a complete answer in the time allowed.